8.  The applicant is a Russian open joint-stock company which was set up in Moscow in 1994 by the Federal Ministry of State Property Management (“the Ministry”) in pursuance of a directive from the President of Russia and a Government decree. Its purpose was to hold shares of former state enterprises which produced electrical equipment for the railways. The applicant company's initial capital was formed by State property. Various individuals and private companies also became shareholders at a subsequent point.
9.  On 14 November 1995, following a directive to that effect by the President of Russia, the Ministry adopted a resolution by which the applicant company was liquidated and a liquidation committee was appointed.
10.  The applicant company, represented by its director general, joined proceedings brought by one of its minority shareholders before the Lyublinskiy District Court of Moscow seeking to have the Ministry's resolution of 14 November 1995 and a number of follow-up resolutions declared void.
11.  The applicant company asked the District Court to issue an interim injunction prohibiting liquidation pending a trial and to strip the liquidation committee of its powers. On 29 October 1998 the District Court issued the injunction. It also prohibited the liquidation committee from acting on behalf of the applicant company in legal proceedings.
12.  On 17 May 2000 the District Court found in favour of the applicant company and its co-plaintiffs. The court noted that the decision to liquidate the applicant company was one that could be taken only by a general assembly of its shareholders. The Ministry held less than 50% of the applicant company's shares at the material time, and its decision to liquidate the applicant company ran counter to the law. The court held that the resolution of 14 November 1995 and the follow-up resolutions were void and ordered the Ministry to annul them. The Ministry did not appeal and the judgment came into force on 28 May 2000.
13.  Some time later the Ministry successfully applied for intervention in the proceedings by the Moscow public prosecutor. On 10 April 2001 the prosecutor lodged an application for supervisory review (протест в порядке надзора) of the judgment of 17 May 2000, seeking to have it set aside.
14.  On 10 May 2001, further to the prosecutor's request, the Presidium of the Moscow City Court, which was composed of five judges, reviewed the case. The court heard submissions from the acting public prosecutor of Moscow, who supported the request. The applicant company did not attend the hearing as it had not been informed that it was to be held.
15.   Referring to the outcome of other proceedings before different courts in 1997‑1999, the Presidium of the Moscow City Court stated that the Ministry had been the sole shareholder of the applicant company at the material time. It was thus empowered to take a decision on liquidating the applicant company in accordance with the relevant substantive law. The director general had no authority to bring proceedings on behalf of the applicant company, since his authority had been ended by the ministerial resolutions in dispute. The District Court should have ensured that the liquidation committee took part in the proceedings. Its failure to do so had made it impossible to establish all the facts which were relevant for the proper examination of the case.
16.  The Presidium of the Moscow City Court granted the prosecutor's request, quashed the judgment of 17 May 2000 and ordered a fresh examination of the case by the Lyublinskiy District Court, with a different composition.
17.  The applicant company was not served with either a copy of the prosecutor's request or a copy of the decision of 10 May 2001. It learned of those developments in October 2001.
18.  Following jurisdictional changes the case was transferred to the Commercial Court of Moscow, which examined it on 25 March 2003. That court held that the fact that the proceedings had been brought by the applicant company, in the person of its director general, was consistent with the applicant company's regulations. The director general had never been relieved of his post through an established procedure. The dispute originated in the liquidation of the applicant company and concerned, inter alia, the lawfulness of the liquidation committee's appointment. That being the case, the applicant company could not be deprived of its right to a court and its action ought to be examined. The court further held that the Ministry had not been the sole shareholder of the applicant company and that it had had no authority under the legislation to liquidate the applicant company unilaterally.
19.  By a decision of 25 March 2003, the Commercial Court of Moscow found for the applicant company and its co-plaintiffs. It declared void the resolution of 14 November 1995 and the follow-up resolutions and ordered the Ministry to annul them. The Ministry did not appeal and the judgment entered into force on 25 April 2003.